Playwright Donald Margulies sounds like a proud father as he describes his latest play, "Coney Island Christmas." He was taking a rehearsal break at the Geffen Playhouse, where the holiday-themed show debuts this week.

But Margulies confessed that when he received a request from Geffen boss Gilbert Cates to write a Christmas play, he was puzzled.

"My initial reaction was, 'Why me?'" said the 58-year-old Brooklyn native, whose autobiographically tinged 2004 play "Brooklyn Boy" explored the sometimes uneasy relationship between Judaism and modern American culture. (It made its world premiere at South Coast Repertory in 2004, one of several Margulies works SCR has introduced to the world.) Among many other honors, Margulies has won the National Foundation for Jewish Culture's Award in Literary Arts.

But Cates was persuasive.

"Gil was such a fan of 'Shipwrecked' (a whimsical Margulies play that the Geffen produced in 2008) and saw in it a bit of the (light) Margulies. He was insistent; he knew I could do it."

Reluctantly, Margulies agreed to the commission. "I rather glibly said to Gil that if I write a Christmas play, it would be a Jewish play." He laughed. "I got off the phone and said, 'What am I going to do?'"

After some fruitless casting around, Margulies remembered a 1959 short story by Grace Paley that he had read many years before called "The Loudest Voice." It was about Jewish schoolchildren being cast in leading roles in a school's Christmas play. Shirley Abramowitz, a young woman with a strong voice, is chosen to be the narrator of the work about the life of Jesus.

"Recalling that story was a serendipitous moment. I remember it had a wonderful premise. When I re-read it I thought, 'Yes, this is it!'"

Many others would have disagreed, Margulies admits. "It's a very thin story, very short and very anecdotal. There's only benign disagreement. The stakes aren't explored at all. But I saw immediately how it could work. The dramatist in me thought of how to heighten the stakes. I made the mother an adversarial figure."

Margulies was aware that this was no standard commission. Cates made it clear that he wanted something that could draw return audiences year after year like "A Christmas Carol."

"In pure showman fashion, he wanted a Christmas classic," the playwright recalled. "So one of the challenges of taking this on is knowing that I would be creating something that might be the very first theatrical experience for some people.

"That inspired me: Coming up with something that is timeless and speaks to future generations."

Rink? No. Snow? Yes.

Margulies sat on the commission for more than a year. Cates occasionally sent him nagging and encouraging e-mails. When the playwright hit on the Paley idea, Cates was ecstatic. "He said, 'That's it. Do it.'" Paley's surviving children, who control her estate, gave their permission for the adaptation. Work proceeded slowly.

Then, on Oct. 31, 2011, Cates died suddenly in the middle of a busy workday. The former Oscar telecast director was 77 but still vital, and his passing came as a shock to those who knew and worked with him. In Cates' honor, Margulies vowed he would have the play ready to perform by Christmas of 2012.

Isabella Acres and Annabelle Gurwitch in the world premiere of Donald Margulies' "Coney Island Christmas" at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Bart DeLorenzo. MICHAEL LAMONT
Lilly Hollemnan and John Sloane in "Coney Island Christmas." Donald Margulies' play is receiving its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse. MICHAEL LAMONT
Arye Gross and Isabella Acres in a scene from Donald Margulies' new holiday-themed play, "Coney Island Christmas," making its debut at the Geffen Playthyouse in Westwood. MICHAEL LAMONT
Arye Gross and Annabelle Gurwitch in "Coney Island Christmas." MICHAEL LAMONT
Angela Paton and Grace Kaufman in a scene from Donald Margulies' new play, "Coney Island Christmas." MICHAEL LAMONT
On Oct. 31, 2011, Geffen Playhouse head Gilbert Cates died suddenly in the middle of a busy workday. The former Oscar telecast director was 77 but still vital, and his passing came as a shock to those who knew and worked with him. In his honor, Donald Margulies vowed he would have the holiday play Cates commissioned ready to perform by Christmas of 2012. MICHAEL LAMONT
Andrew Walke and Isabella Acres in a scene from "Coney Island Christmas." MICHAEAL LAMONT
The cast of "Coney Island Christmas." MICHAEL LAMONT

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